Rabat – Morocco’s opposition parties have called the newly appointed government to be more effective, “responsible, and pragmatic” as new ministers prepare to implement the “royal instructions” for a new development model.
In a concert of statements earlier this week, as political parties took part in the opening session of parliamentary debates, the opposition reminded the newly appointed government of their duty to serve the needs and aspirations of the Moroccan people.
The Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS), which recently left the PDJ-led government coalition in what some observers have called the end of political honeymoon, is now on the offensive against a government coalition it now considers ineffective and lacking the inspiration to solve the country’s most salient social and economic issues.
In a statement published on October 15, PPS called on the new government to come up with a “new and pragmatic” political program in which it details how it plans to to rise up to the persisting challenges confronting the country. The new program program should “take into account the royal directives calling for effectiveness and rapidity” in the implementation of political reforms, the statement maintained.
Social justice and national economic performance took prominent spots in the PPS’s statement. In addition to providing “concrete responses to society’s frustration,” read the statement, the new government has the responsibility of putting forth a “working economic orientation aimed at driving up national production.”
While not as defiant as the PPS, the Istiqlal or Independence party, also called on the El Othmani-led government to propose a pragmatic plan for parliamentary debates and approval before the implementation phase.
Like PPS, however, Istiqlal also holds the PJD-led government responsible for the country’s problems. “The government’s negligence and its failure to respond to the needs of the people is the cause of the country’s socio-economic crisis,” said a statement from the party.
The calls come as many express doubts as to whether the new government reshuffle will make any discernible steps to break away from the old habits of the country’s governing class. Echoing that sentiment, Istiqlal’s Nizar Baraka said that Moroccans expect the new government to claim its “constitutional responsibilities” and deliver on promises.
